Mike Dolce: Daniel Cormier could make 185 pounds with no performance cost

Nutrition guru Mike Dolce believes Daniel Cormier has more pounds to give if he wants to reinvent himself once again.

Dolce, a consultant for fighters looking to shed pounds, said the former heavyweight and current UFC light-heavyweight contender could drop down another weight class and still maintain his performance.

“If think if (Cormier) keeps living the lifestyle that he keeps now, takes more of my advice (and) a closer approach with me to help him modify that, if he wants to, he’ll be able to weigh in at 185 (pounds) to compete very close to what he competes at as a light heavyweight,” Dolce recently told MMAjunkie Radio.

Cormier’s move from the UFC’s big-man division to the marquee 205-pound class was primarily a concession to avoid fighting his longtime training partner, current heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez. It also was a decision the 35-year-old Olympian put off for several years, and for good reason.

Cormier (15-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) competed as an amateur wrestler at 184 pounds, but he earned the bulk of his accomplishments on the mat in the 96-kilogram (211.5 pounds) weight class, where he took fourth place at the 2004 Summer Olympics. While competing in the same class for the U.S. at the 2008 Games, he suffered kidney damage after a botched weight cut.

As an MMA heavyweight, Cormier’s intensity and wrestling chops were too much to handle for his opponents. In 2012, he won the Strikeforce world heavyweight grand prix as an alternate. He had just seven pro fights when he entered the field in a reserve bout.

But when “DC” dismantled fellow Olympic wrestler Dan Henderson in his light heavyweight debut in May at UFC 173, his decision to fight lighter was proven to be the right one. Cormier, who remains undefeated in MMA, is now slated to fight the winner of UFC 178’s headliner between light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson.

Moving down yet another might weight class might strike MMA observers as particularly severe. But Dolce is no stranger to bold claims – and weighty accomplishments.

The former fighter and current face of “UFC Fit” is a go-to consultant for those looking to gain the maximum advantage in the cage without the suffering involved with old-school weight cutting. Dolce’s clients repeatedly have advertised quick drops of 20 pounds or more without the draining influence of a sauna.

And while Cormier currently has little incentive to consider another drop in weight, Dolce said the fighter could be even better in the cage with a stricter diet.

“He would gain strength, he would gain speed, and he would gain durability,” Dolce said. “Look at the photos of him when he weighed in at 205 (pounds). Look at that body, and you can see he’s not nearly as ripped as he could be. Where you don’t see the definition, all that is additional weight that’s non-functional. So we can get rid of that, get him very close, and that’s even before the dehydration sets in.”

Dolce’s services as a side-by-side consultant don’t come for free, of course. Fighters who want that extra bit of monitoring pay a premium for the service. But that’s not a barrier Cormier should worry about, according to Dolce.

“I don’t make this about money,” he said. “I make it about athletes being healthy and successful.”

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